By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have reached these lands but newly
From an ultimate dim Thule-
From a wild clime that lieth, sublime,
Out of SPACE- out of TIME.
Bottomless vales and boundless floods,
And chasms, and caves, and Titan woods,
With forms that no man can discover For the tears that drip all over;
Mountains toppling evermore Into seas without a shore;
Seas that restlessly aspire, Surging, unto skies of fire;
Lakes that endlessly outspread Their lone waters-
lone and dead,- Their still waters- still and chilly
With the snows of the lolling lily.
By the lakes that thus outspread Their lone waters,
lone and dead,- Their sad waters, sad and chilly
With the snows of the lolling lily,-
By the mountains- near the river Murmuring lowly, murmuring ever,
- By the grey woods,- by the swamp Where the toad and the newt encamp-
By the dismal tarns and pools Where dwell the Ghouls,-
By each spot the most unholy- In each nook most melancholy-
There the traveller meets aghast Sheeted Memories of the Past-
Shrouded forms that start and sigh As they pass the wanderer by-
White-robed forms of friends long given, In agony, to the Earth- and Heaven.
For the heart whose woes are legion 'Tis a peaceful, soothing region-
For the spirit that walks in shadow 'Tis- oh, 'tis an Eldorado!
But the traveller, travelling through it, May not- dare not openly view it!
Never its mysteries are exposed To the weak human eye unclosed;
So wills its King, who hath forbid The uplifting of the fringed lid;
And thus the sad Soul that here passes Beholds it but through darkened glasses.
By a route obscure and lonely, Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT, On a black throne reigns upright,
I have wandered home but newly From this ultimate dim Thule.
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have reached these lands but newly
From an ultimate dim Thule-
From a wild clime that lieth, sublime,
Out of SPACE- out of TIME.
Bottomless vales and boundless floods,
And chasms, and caves, and Titan woods,
With forms that no man can discover For the tears that drip all over;
Mountains toppling evermore Into seas without a shore;
Seas that restlessly aspire, Surging, unto skies of fire;
Lakes that endlessly outspread Their lone waters-
lone and dead,- Their still waters- still and chilly
With the snows of the lolling lily.
By the lakes that thus outspread Their lone waters,
lone and dead,- Their sad waters, sad and chilly
With the snows of the lolling lily,-
By the mountains- near the river Murmuring lowly, murmuring ever,
- By the grey woods,- by the swamp Where the toad and the newt encamp-
By the dismal tarns and pools Where dwell the Ghouls,-
By each spot the most unholy- In each nook most melancholy-
There the traveller meets aghast Sheeted Memories of the Past-
Shrouded forms that start and sigh As they pass the wanderer by-
White-robed forms of friends long given, In agony, to the Earth- and Heaven.
For the heart whose woes are legion 'Tis a peaceful, soothing region-
For the spirit that walks in shadow 'Tis- oh, 'tis an Eldorado!
But the traveller, travelling through it, May not- dare not openly view it!
Never its mysteries are exposed To the weak human eye unclosed;
So wills its King, who hath forbid The uplifting of the fringed lid;
And thus the sad Soul that here passes Beholds it but through darkened glasses.
By a route obscure and lonely, Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT, On a black throne reigns upright,
I have wandered home but newly From this ultimate dim Thule.
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